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German Streamers now requiring “Broadcast License”

Posted on: Apr 12, 2017

Pictured: Left [Streamers], Center [Government], Right [People not affected]

So, I saw this on Kaostic’s twitter, via iRaffer, and honestly, I didn’t believe it. People were saying “You believe shit you saw in a Youtube video, you’re dumb.” and with that in mind, I went to the internet! It wouldn’t lie to me, right? In fact, I found a number of websites reporting on it, most of them being located in the UK and Germany. So I’m going to take it as a fact until I see otherwise. So, what’s the story? In Germany, there is a worry that Radio/TV stations will declare themselves as a “streaming service” in order to avoid paying for a Broadcasting License [which runs 1-10k Euro, depending on your audience]. What this has led to, is that German courts ruled that depending on the audience you possess [over 500 is what I’ve been finding] will have to get a broadcasting license, see above cost. Now my first thought is “Thank God I live in America!” then followed by “Thank God we don’t have 500 concurrent viewers in Germany! Though… I do want 500 concurrent viewers. Not gonna lie to myself.”

This is pretty outdated and archaic as far as rules go, and from what I understand, it will be evaluated down the line. Likely, when they realize they aren’t going to make money off this. Your average streamer does not pull in that kind of stream revenue to afford that, and would have to shill to their audiences and probably lose people in that struggle. So those people will have to stop doing what they love. I think that it will hurt the streaming community. After considering it, what happens to people in Germany, or across Europe [if this catches on] who want to do something wonderful, like entertain people? Knowing they’ll have to spend at least a thousand Euros on a license, just to play video games or talk online? I know that if I had been told I’d need to spend thousands of dollars, just to stream some video games? Using my time, my equipment, my consoles, without a studio or a huge audience? We’re not a network, we’re not a corporation. We’re two or three dudes who just want to make some friends and play some games. I can only imagine how soul-crushing, how infuriating it could be for streamers on the other side of the pond. Now I’m only familiar closely with one German streamer, but he’s in the UK now, Todesberg of Hirez Studios, one of the coolest people I’ve met. But a lot of the European SMITE players could be affected. They draw large audiences, and it has become a part of their income and their lives.

Should streamers be taxed or required to get a license? At what point does their success require some kind of charge?

Glad you posted about this. It’s insane nonsensical governing that once again shows these old white men have no idea where to begin governing the online world. They need to step aside or get run over.

More and more I’m understanding why in all the semi-futuristic stories corporations have replaced governments. Governments are constantly proving time and time again that they are outdated in the modern world.